Head of Software Engineering and Testing

Company description:

Snowy Hydro is a dynamic, integrated energy business that has been providing on-demand, reliable energy to Australia for generations. Snowy Hydro owns and operates a powerful combination of generation assets, including the mighty Snowy Mountains Scheme, gas and diesel plants, and contracted wind and solar energy.

We also provide electricity and gas to over 1.5 million retail customers through our retail brands Red Energy and Lumo Energy. Snowy 2.0 is Australia's largest committed renewable energy project. This nation-building project will provide on-demand energy and large-scale storage for many generations to come.

Job description:

We are seeking a visionary, pragmatic, and highly collaborative Head of Software Engineering & Testing to lead our unified Engineering, Development, and Quality Assurance pillar across the enterprise. Reporting directly to the General Manager - Enterprise Technology Delivery, this critical role oversees a multidisciplinary division of technology professionals across our Retail and Generation technology portfolios.

Following an enterprise-wide restructure bringing together our retail systems and generation technology teams, this position is pivotal in shaping the future of our digital applications. You will balance the high-stakes, 24/7 reliability required for generation trading systems with high-traffic, customer-facing digital platforms. Working in close partnership with Enterprise Architecture, IT Operations, and Cyber Security, you will lead major strategic initiatives—including the landmark Kraken retail implementation and the modernisation and lifecycle strategy for our generation application suite.

If you are an empathetic, outcome-oriented leader who builds trust, communicates transparently, and knows how to deliver pragmatic engineering solutions without over-engineering, this impactful leadership role offers an exceptional opportunity to make your mark.

Key Responsibilities:

• Software Engineering & Application Modernisation: Direct custom application development squads across diverse technology ecosystems (including .NET, Java, and JavaScript) to build, maintain, and modernise integrations under unified enterprise standards. Formulate and drive the future strategy for aging generation application suites while overseeing major retail transformation initiatives, including the Kraken platform implementation.

• Quality Assurance & Testing Governance: Own and drive the enterprise Quality Assurance function across the retail and operational portfolios. Establish robust automated verification frameworks, continuous end-to-end testing workflows, and regression benchmarking to enforce strict production release quality gates and eliminate defect leakage.

• People Leadership & Workforce Strategy: Provide inspiring leadership, mentorship, and career growth for a multidisciplinary division of engineers, testers, and leads across direct reports (Development Manager, Test Manager, Technical Team Lead, and Engineering Manager). Execute a forward-thinking workforce strategy to transition contractor roles to permanent capability, securing core technical IP.

• Technical Standards, Architecture & Governance: Establish cohesive engineering patterns, CI/CD automation pipelines, database optimisation, and deployment guardrails. Partner with Cyber Security and Enterprise Architecture to support enterprise AI models, data pipelines, and robust data management strategies while ensuring seamless BAU handovers to IT Operations.

• Cross-Functional Alignment & Stakeholder Management: Partner strategically across Technology and business delivery teams (Application Design, Business Analysis, PMO, IT Operations, and Cyber Security) to translate blueprints into sprint execution, manage release stage-gates, and handle escalations and vendor engagements effectively.

Location:

This role is a hybrid position, preferred to be based in Melbourne operating under a 3-day in-office policy.

About You:

• Pragmatic & Delivery-Focused Mindset: Highly practical problem-solver who avoids over-engineering in favor of delivering fit-for-purpose, robust solutions that provide immediate business value and scale smoothly without trying to "design the Ferrari" every time.

• Strong, Empathetic Influencer & Collaborator: Possesses a confident, resilient, and articulate leadership presence to stand firm on sound technical architecture and push back constructively against business demands, paired with deep empathy to focus on solving underlying business problems and achieving the right outcomes.

• Adaptive Methodology Acumen: Practical, hands-on fluency in both Agile and Waterfall methodologies without dogmatic attachment to either, knowing instinctively how to tailor frameworks to suit project needs and operational demands.

• Calm Firefighter & Escalation Leader: Proven ability to navigate high-pressure production challenges, resolve complex stakeholder escalations, manage strategic vendor partnerships, and foster deep stakeholder confidence through transparent communication and decisive execution.

• Broad Enterprise Application Expertise: Substantial technical depth spanning both mission-critical operational/trading environments (.NET back-ends requiring 24/7 uptime) and high-volume, customer-facing digital web and contact center platforms (Java/JavaScript with strong UX standards), alongside familiarity with modern data pipelines, AI models, and cybersecurity guardrails.

• Sector & Scale Experience: Demonstrated leadership background navigating complex, large-scale enterprise environments within energy/utilities, banking/financial services, or telecommunications.

• Experience & Track Record: 12+ years of software engineering and development experience, coupled with 5+ years of senior leadership experience steering large, multidisciplinary engineering and QA divisions.

• Education & Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related discipline. Advanced certifications in cloud architecture, software engineering, or test automation frameworks are highly regarded.

Snowy Hydro has a culture of decency and inclusion, with a commitment to the health and wellbeing of our people and a supportive environment to ensure that everyone - regardless of background - feels included and can succeed. At Snowy Hydro, we recognise that we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each individual brings, and we believe in providing an environment that allows that uniqueness to thrive.

Snowy Hydro is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We are committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provide accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for a role with Snowy Hydro and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an email with your request to the Snowy Hydro recruitment team at recruitment@snowyhydro.com.au.

Please include a cover letter with your application to be considered for this role.